CITIC, Bear Stearns to renegotiate share swap

Bear Stearns and Citic Securities, China’s largest securities firm, are renegotiating a share swap agreement reached last year to reflect a fall in their respective stock prices, the Financial Times reported. Senior executives from the firms are discussing a "reciprocal adjustment" that would increase the amount they eventually hold in each other. CITIC’s stake is likely to increase to 9.9% of Bear Stearns, from about 6% originally planned under the terms of the deal struck in October. The US investment bank’s stake in CITIC could eventually be lifted to as much as 7.5%, from about 2%. The deal is still pending regulatory approval in China. If successful, CITIC Securities would become the US investment bank’s largest single shareholder.